Bag-type container and closure therefor



Oct. 16, 1951 F. LOBL BAG-TYPE CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed April 27, 1949 p Y Z 4, 2 V Z flfl/llflllflffflllflllrfllffl Patented Oct. 16, 1951 UNITED BAG-TYPE CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Frederick Lobl, Middleboro, Mass.

Application April 27, 1949, Serial No. 89,848

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in bagtype containers having flexible walls which are yieldable relatively toward and from each other, andhaving closure means between the walls operable into and out of sealing relation to a mouth opening in one of the walls. More particularly, the invention provides improvements in such a container whereby opening and closing of the mouth opening may be accomplished easily and quickly, with the closure means more effectively operable from within the container into sealing coaction with wall portions at and around the mouth opening, as compared with prior comparable containers, such as are disclosed in my copending application for patent Serial No. 773,894, filed September 13, 1947, now issued as Patent Number 2,499,150, dated February 28, 1950.

The uses to which hot water bottles, ice bags and the like, are put, make it desirable to avoid having relatively hard projections which may be discomforting to users, especially when the bottle or bag is arranged under a part of a persons body with the weight of the particular part of the body resting on the bottle or bag. Also it is desirable to avoid having a closure element which may become separated from the bottle or bag with likelihood that it may become mislaid or lost.

In my mentioned co-pending application for patent, there is disclosed a bag-type container having a mouth opening in a generally flat wall of the container and having closure means for the mouth opening suspended within the container and operable from within into sealing relation to the mouth opening, with relatively small projection exteriorly of the container.

It is among the objects of my present invention to provide a bag-type container generally similar to that as disclosed in my said co-pending application but having an improved closure plug structure and an improved coaction between the the plug and relatively stiff stabilized mouth walls, whereby the plug more easily and quickly may be manipulated to and from efiective sealing relation to the mouth opening. The container wall through which the mouth opening extends has a relatively broad annular region around the mouth opening at which the wall is stiff and stable against any appreciable flexing, and an interiorly suspended closure plug has a relatively large elastic flange for eifecting an interior seal around the mouth opening simultaneously with the attainment of an exterior seal by a plug part which is forced through the mouth opening.

Another object isto provide a bag-type container wherein a closure plug is suspended between relatively flat wall portions and is operable outwardly into sealing relation to a mouth opening in one of the flat wall portions, with a sealing portion projected exteriorly of the container but located short of projecting beyond the plane of the exterior surface of the flat wall portion through which the mouth opening extends.

Yet another object is to provide a bag-type container having a mouth opening in a generally flat wall portion thereof, and having a closure plug removably suspended within the container and operable into and out of closing relation to the mouth opening.

It is, moreover, my purpose and object generally to improve the structure and efiectiveness of bag-type containers and more especially such containers having interior closure means for a mouth opening in a wall of the container.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a hot water bottle embodying features of the invention, the lower portion of the bottle being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, on a larger scale, the closure element being in mouth sealing position;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the closure element displaced inwardly to open the mouth of the container;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing modifications of the bottle and closure element structures;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a fragment of a modified form of wall stiffener. 7

Referring to the drawing, the walls I0, l2 of the illustrated hot water bottle may be of rubber or other suitable flexible material, with a mouth opening M in the wall It).

According to the invention, the portion of wall In. surrounding opening [4 is substantially thicker than adjacent portions of the wall, and this thicker portion l6 has embedded therein the annular reinforcing and stifiening member I8 which may be of metal or any other suitably stiff and strong material. Member l8 may be a flat ring as shown at !8' in Figs. 4 and 5, but preferably will be cross-sectionally shaped to resist distortion under the pressures applied in opening and closing the mouth opening M. For example, the member H3 in Figs. 1-3 has a stiffening flange l9 around its inner edge and a comparable flange [9 around its outer edge. Fig. 6 shows, in cross-section, another shape for the member l8.

A closure plug is indicated generally at 20, it being movably suspended within the container by means of a flexible suspension member 22. In the embodiment of Figs. 1-3, the suspension member 22 is shown as an integral flap on closure plug 20, with its upper end permanently secured to the container walls at the top of the container, as by being inserted and cemented in a slot 24. made in the container walls for this purpose, whence the closure plug hangs within the container in position to be pressed outwardly to its mouth-sealing position of Fig. 2, or to be pressed inwardly, to open the mouth opening I4, as in Fig. 3.

Closure plug 20 preferably will be made of resilient material such as rubber. As best seen in Fig. 3, it has a circular end portion 26 substantially greater in diameter than the mouth opening [4 whereby considerable pressure. must be exerted on the plug 20 to force its portion 26 in either direction through the mouth opening l4. The resilient nature of the plug material permits radial compression and contraction of the portion 26 as it is being forced through the/mouth opening, and it elastically springs back to its natural diameter as soon as it passes from one side to the other of the mouth opening. Hence, when the mouth opening I4. is to be closed, the container is held in both hands with fingers of each hand engaging the reinforced thicker portion I6 of wall 10 and with the thumbs of each hand pressing exteriorly on wall [2 opposite the plug and the mouth opening I4. The suspension of the closure plug will be such that, as it is pressed toward mouth opening [4, it becomes y centered in the opening and continued pressure on wall 12 forces plug portion 26 through the mouth opening until it snaps past lip I4 and resiliently spreads to its natural diameter exteriorly of the container. However, as portion 26 is being forced outwardly through the mouth opening, a larger diameter flange portion 28 of the plug engages interiorly. against the reinforced mouth Walls, and thisflange portion 28 is resiliently flexible and has its surface which engages the mouth walls cross-sectionally curved. substantially more abruptly than the curvature of the engaged mouth walls. Hence, as the outward movement of the plug proceeds, the flange portion 28 flexes and radially expands until it nicely conforms to the surface contour of the engaged mouth walls, with the conformed flange elastically gripping the engaged mouth walls'to effectively seal the mouth opening interiorly of the container in conjunction with an exterior sealing of the mouth opening effected by theportion 26 of the plug as a result of its elastic expansion following its passage through opening I4, the said portion 26 maintaining the effectiveness of the inner seal.

A feature of importance resides in the reinforced and stiffened mouth walls at the thicker portion l6 of wall l0, wherein the stiffening member l8 effectively maintains the stability of the mouth walls during applications of plug-operating pressures. Also, the stiffening member l8 prevents any distortion of the mouth walls in use of the container or bottle. For example, unreinforced and unstable mouth walls might become rolled or folded in service with possibility of stretching plug-engaging portions of the walls in a manner to spoil the effectiveness of the seal. The stiffening ring member [8 effectively prevents any accidental or even intentional stretching of mouth walls in a manner which might ren- 4 der the described seals ineffective. Also, the stable and stiff mouth walls facilitate manipulations of the closure plug 20 both when opening and closing the mouth opening I4. Furthermore, the substantial thickness of the mouth walls at l6 makes it practicable as well as desirable to form the mouthwalls with the exterior annular recess 30 around. the mouth opening so that the outer surface of plug portion 26 when in mouth-sealing position may be flush with or below the surface of the adjacent mouth walls, as best seen in Fig. 2. This avoids any projection of the plug exteriorly of the walls of the container, and more or less protects the outer part of the plug against being accidentally subjected to pressures which might force the plug inward through the mouth opening, although this latter mentioned possibility is an unlikely one due to the, considerable pressure which is required to displace the plug excepting when the pressure is concentrated at a particular region of the plug as when the thumbs press together at the lower region thereof tending to flex the body of the plug.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a modification in which the closure plug 2| may have a suspension flap 32 which is removably secured interiorly of the container whereby a worn closure plug may be replaced by a new one. Either the wall ID or the wall l2 may have rubber buttons 34 formed thereon interiorly of the container, and suspension flap 32 has button-holes 36 therein for removably buttoning the flap and its closure plug to the container wall.

Fig. 5 additionally shows the closure plug annularly grooved interiorly at which makes the plug more flexible and easier to press into and out of sealing relation to mouth opening l4.

Also, Fig. 5 shows how the wall [2 may be stiffened at 40 opposite the mouth opening in wall In to visually locate the region at which pressure is to be applied and to stabilize that region of the wall I2.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty exist in the invention disclosed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A generally flat flexibler-wall container having oppositely disposed generally flat Wall portions movable relatively toward and from each other, one of said wall portions having a mouth opening therein, means embedded in the wall portion which has said mouth opening, said means comprising a. generally flat substantially rigid annulus disposed around said mouth opening in the general plane of the wall portion within which it is embeddedand having diameter for stiffening the wall portion throughout an annular region having substantial radial extent outward from said mouth opening, closure means movably mounted within the container generally opposite the said mouth opening and operable in outward direction into sealing relation to said mouth opening and operable in inward direction to entirely clear said mouth opening, said closure means having a relatively large elastic flange for seating flatwise against inner surfaces of said stiffened wall portion to provide an interior relatively broad annular seal around the mouth opening, and having another portion for simultaneously passing through the mouth opening and adapted to seal the mouth opening exteriorly of the container.

2. A generally flat flexible-wall container having oppositely disposed generally flat wall portions movable relatively toward and from each other, one of said wall portions having a mouth opening therein, a ring of stiff sheet metal embedded in the wall material surrounding the mouth opening, said ring having fiatwise extent in the plane of the wall portions in which it is embedded for stabilizing a substantial circular area of said wall portion through which the mouth opening extends, outward of said mouth opening, whereby said substantial area of wall is maintained against any appreciable flexing, a closure plug suspended within the container and movable toward and from each of said wall portions at a location generally opposite the mouth opening, means on the end of said closure plug which is toward the mouth opening adapted to be thrust linearly outwardly through the mouth opening, and an elastic flange on the closure plug having diameter substantially greater than the diameter of said mouth opening for elastically engaging flatwise against relatively broad interior surfaces of said stabilized wall portion when said end means on the plug is forced through the mouth opening, and means providing an annular recess around the mouth opening exteriorly of said stabilized wall portion for accommodating said end means on the closure plug when said means is forced outwardly through the mouth opening.

3. A generally flat flexible-wall container having oppositely disposed generally flat wall portions movable relatively toward and from each other, one of said wall portions having a mouth opening therein, a ring of stiff sheet metal embedded in the wall material surrounding the mouth opening, said ring having flatwise extent in the plane of the wall portions in which it is embedded for stabilizing a substantial circular area of said wall portion through which the mouth opening extends, outward of said mouth opening, whereby said substantial area of wall is maintained against any appreciable flexing, a closure plug suspended within the container and movable toward and from each of said wall portions at a location generally opposite the mouth opening, said closure plug being of elastic material and having an outer end portion of larger diameter than the mouth opening but radially Number compressible for forced travel through the mouth opening and adapted to elastically return to its natural diameter when said end portion passes beyond the mouth walls, whereby said end por-' tion of the closure plug constitutes an elastic exterior seal around the mouth opening when it is forced outwardly through and beyond the mouth walls; and an elastic flange on the closure plug for simultaneously elastically engaging in terior surfaces of said stabilized wall portion thereby to effect an interior seal around the mouth opening; said elastic flange having diameter substantially greater than the diameter of said mouth opening whereby its said interior engagement is a relatively broad flatwise engagement with the stabilized wall portion.

4. A generally flat flexible-wall container having oppositely disposed generally fiat wall portions movable relatively toward and from each other,'one of said wall portions having a mouth opening therein, means embedded in the wall portion which has said mouth opening for stiffening said wall portion throughout a substantial annular region outward of and extending all around the mouth opening whereby a substantial generally flat stiff ring of wall material extends outward from and surrounds the mouth opening, a closure plug within the container generally opposite said mouth opening, and flexible means removably suspending the closure element within the container for movements into and out of closing relation to the mouth opening, said closure plug including an annular portion having diameter substantially greater than the mouth opening for interior relatively broad fiatwise sealing engagement with said stiffened wall portion of the container.

FREDERICK LOBL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date McGee June 15, 1926 Lobl Jan. 7, 1947 Lobl Feb. 28, 1950 

